Awoke early
to rising dawn, another clear sunny and very warm day ahead. The room was very comfortable and they even
had travel snack bags for us on leaving.
We leave Buffalo, WY, and head directly east on I-90. We cross the weird rock landscape with cattle
and crops among the sage brush. The Big
Horn Mountains we had crossed the day before is one of the isolated mountain
ranges east of the Rocky Mountain spine that runs north to south. In between these ranges are broad valleys
where most of the population live.
Wyoming may have even less population than Alaska at this time, 500k or
so. We are thrilled to be able to see
Devil’s Tower in the distance, a lone high cone of an old volcano. We visited there some years ago and loved
it. It is where Close Encounters of the
Third Kind was filmed. We cross over the
Missouri River, again. At this point it
is even wider and more plagues about Lewis and Clark Expedition. WY has one Native Reservation. We pass by the Badlands which we enjoyed on
our way to Ak and can see Prairie Dogs along the roadside.
We cross
into South Dakota and now we are in Central Time, one hour from home, three
hours from AK. First area is the Black
Hills, so named for the thick growth of dark green pines on the low rolling
hills. There are a couple peaks in here
around 5k feet, but this will be the last of high elevations as we travel east. This is where Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse
Mountain carvings are that we have visited in the past. We pass Sturgis where during height of Covid
the Gov allowed the annual motor cycle rally to take place. Thousands of bikers come annually to this
little town for a week of partying and close encounters. Wonder what the Covid rate was for visitors
and town people.
South Dakota
is not a populous state and there are several Native American Reservations in
the state. The landscape is becoming
more prairie grasslands; once an ancient area of tall grass and microcosm of
animals, now plowed and grazed. The feds
have reserved a few areas of the ancient grasslands for prosperity. The prairie winds start out from the west,
pushing us forward but turn from the south and now we must struggle to hold the
car in the lane. The giant windmills
are turning like crazy. This is Little
House on the Prairie location where the stories came from. Lots of crops, interestingly, lots of seed
corn. The land is mostly flat and not
very interesting along the highway. We
got up to 88 degrees but near end of the drive going east we dropped to 77
degrees. It looks like we will be more
in the 60’s by the time we get home.
Ohio has had a cooling period.
And we are ready for it. We are
staying at the Fairfield Inn in Sioux Falls, SD. Dinner at Texas Roadhouse. It is full of travelers. We have seen license plates from all over
making the trek east.
Talked to
Seth today. He has a work function all
week in Pittsburgh. All is well.
Tomorrow, we
drop south on I-29 and pick up I-80 going east into Iowa. I-90 takes a northern turn and is further
driving. Eventually 90 and 80 will join
up around Chicago and carry us to Hudson, separating from 90 and ending on 80 turnpike.
Big day of
driving tomorrow again.
Two more
days, home on Saturday. We will have our
very own toilets and not have to suffer strange toilets, many of them pit. Don’t have to get up early and face a long
day of driving. Can run around the house
in pj’s all day if we want. Such a
luxury. Looking forward to catching up
with friends and family.
Thankful for
travel mercies and kind people.
Nighty night.
miles driven today: 562
Total miles driven: 4539